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Thomas Hager

Prize-winning science writer Thomas Hager tells dramatic true stories about great discoveries. To bring this deeply researched material to life for the general public, he uses a novelist's tools, including sharply drawn characters and compelling plots. His work has earned national recognition, including the American Chemical Association's top writing award, the Grady-Stack Medal for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public, and a finalist nod for the National Academies Communication Award. After a long career as a medical journalist (including stints as a contributor to the Journal of the American Medical Association and American Health), he turned to writing books: Most recently, "Ten Drugs: How Plants, Powders, and Pills Have Shaped the History of Medicine" (out in March); " "The Alchemy of Air: A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Discovery that Fed the World but Fueled the Rise of Hitler" (critically acclaimed Borders "Original Voices" selection and one of Kirkus Reviews' Best Books of the year); and "The Demon Under the Microscope: From Battlefield Hospitals to Nazi Labs, One Doctor's Heroic Search for the World's First Miracle Drug" (called "fascinating" (Los Angeles Times) and "a grand story" (Wall St. Journal)).

Hager, a courtesy associate professor of communications and journalism at the University of Oregon, lives in the wooded hills near Eugene.

Beginning with opium, the “joy plant,” which has been used for 10,000 years, Thomas Hager tells a captivating story of medicine. His subjects include the largely forgotten female pioneer who introduced smallpox inoculation to Britain, the infamous knockout drops, and much more....